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A Senate bill seeking to cut off funding for the Biomass Crop Assistance Program could jeopardize the growth of next-generation biofuels, said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa. "Without action, a cut to this funding proposes a threat to ethanol's future by keeping the focus of biofuels production almost entirely on existing feedstocks, mainly corn, and not adding in biomass," Harkin said. The Biotechnology Industry Organization said the "cuts would be devastating to the deployment of advanced biofuels, and to the thousands of high-quality U.S. jobs the industry would create."

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Individuals with disabilities need full access to technology to fully participate in life, retired US Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said during a recent speech. Harkin, an advocate for disability rights during his congressional career, is working with the Department of Justice to include technology accessibility as a civil right for individuals with disabilities.

U.S. companies and employees would benefit from a bill that would require businesses to offer paid sick leave, writes Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa. The measure would let employees earn up to seven days of time off, at an accumulation rate of one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours they work. "Workers' rights should matter to everyone, but they matter even more when you consider that your next turkey sandwich might be served with a side of the flu," Harkin writes.

Ethanol is a widely available fuel, said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, unlike so-called "drop-in" oil substitutes, which are still about two decades from reaching the market. "By all means, we should continue apace with the development of drop-in fuels, but this is not an either-or proposition. Until drop-in fuels are commercially viable, we should continue to support ethanol," Harkin told members of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

A tax-relief package that is awaiting the signature of President Barack Obama will help boost production of biodiesel and ethanol, said Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa. The biofuel incentives in the tax bill will help revive biodiesel plants that have shut down or cut production, Grassley said. "There's 23,000 people unemployed, so you start those plants up and get the workers back to work."

An extension of the ethanol tax credits could be included in an omnibus appropriations measure from the House Ways and Means Committee, said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa. Harkin said he is hopeful that an extension of the tax credits would muster enough votes to clear Congress. "If we do away with [the tax credits], gasoline prices are going to go up and [consumers] are going to pay for it at the pump, and the oil companies will get the profit, not American farmers, not American producers, not American shippers," he said.